1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a jaw closure mechanism for use in a surgical clip applier.
2. Description of Related Art
Surgical staplers and clip appliers are known in the art and are used for a number of distinct and useful surgical procedures. In the case of a laparoscopic surgical procedure, access to the interior of an abdomen is achieved through narrow tubes or cannulas inserted through a small entrance incision in the skin. Minimally invasive procedures performed elsewhere in the body are often generally referred to as endoscopic procedures. Typically, a tube or cannula device is extended into the patient's body through the entrance incision to provide an access port. The port allows the surgeon to insert a number of different surgical instruments therethrough using a trocar and for performing surgical procedures far removed from the incision.
During a majority of these procedures, the surgeon must often terminate the flow of blood or another fluid through one or more vessels. The surgeon will often apply a surgical clip to a blood vessel or another duct to prevent the flow of body fluids therethrough during the procedure. An endoscopic clip applier is known in the art for applying a single clip or a series of clips during a surgical procedure. Such clips are typically fabricated from a biocompatible material and are usually compressed over a vessel. Once applied to the vessel, the compressed clip terminates the flow of fluid therethrough. Open surgical clip appliers operate in a similar fashion.
Endoscopic clip appliers that are able to apply multiple clips in endoscopic or laparoscopic procedures during a single entry into the body cavity are described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,084,057 and 5,100,420 to Green et al., which are both incorporated by reference in their entirety. Another multiple endoscopic clip applier is disclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,436 by Pratt et al., the contents of which is also hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. These devices are typically, though not necessarily, used during a single surgical procedure. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/515,341 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,502 to Pier et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a resterilizable surgical clip applier. The clip applier advances and forms multiple clips during a single insertion into the body cavity. This resterilizable clip applier is configured to receive and cooperate with an interchangeable clip magazine so as to advance and form multiple clips during a single entry into a body cavity.
One significant design goal in the manufacture of clip appliers is to provide a clip applier that maximizes the jaw closure force imparted to the jaws to help ensure complete and proper formation of the clip onto the body tissue or vessel while also minimizing the drive force applied by the user to actuate the jaws so as to permit relatively easy actuation of the jaws and to inhibit fatigue during the course of a surgical procedure. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a clip applier having a jaw closure mechanism configured to maximize the ratio of jaw closure force to drive force.